Battlefield 4 multiplayer career progression detailed by DICE

DICE has outlined the enhanced online career progression for Battlefield 4 in a new official blog post.

Similar to the functionality of Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4 will have the same Ribbons and Medals, but claims to offer the “deepest online career ever” for gamers.

“With Battlefield 4, we are introducing our deepest online career ever. We are also tweaking it to make it rewarding for newcomers and challenging for returning veterans”, reads the official DICE blog post. “While sharing similar basics with Battlefield 3, we are now offering a cleaner upgrade path, clearer Ribbon and Medal progression, and an increased focus on richly rewarding great team play.”

DICE is offering 900 rewards unique to Battlefield 4, and some of these are the Ribbons. Multiple Ribbons can be earned in a single round, with each awarded for things like vehicle repair, flag capture or reviving fallen team mates.

“We know our fans can spend literally hundreds of hours on the Battlefield. With Battlefield 4, we want to make sure players have goals to aspire to at the end game, while at the same time rewarding players at earlier ranks as well. Ribbons are the quick fixes, whether you’re a veteran or a newcomer to the series.”

For every 50 Ribbons, a player in Battlefield 4 will earn a Medal. Some of these are only awarded to specific classes such as Recon or Engineer.

“The concept of grabbing dog tags from other players in the game has been an exciting cat and mouse chase between players since Battlefield 3 and earlier in the series’ history. We’re now more clearly defining how the hundreds of dog tags obtainable are displayed in the game, and what they are used for.”

The left hand side of the dog tag is reserved for the player’s identity, while the right hand side lists all their achievements in-game.

“Service stars are also returning in Battlefield 4. These are additional distinguishing marks that you get awarded for heavily investing in distinct areas of the game. Think of it as a sub-rank of sorts that takes much more dedication than Ribbons.”

Players will also get rewarded for every mission they attempt to complete. Unlike in Battlefield 3, the points will start trickling into a player’s account as soon as they attempt to capture a flag or complete an objective, even if the overall outcome is failure.

“A new concept in Battlefield 4 is that of “Kill Assist Counts as Kill”. If you get a few shots in on an enemy but can’t manage the kill, you’ll still get awarded the kill if that enemy is later eliminated.”Next, read our pick of the best games of 2013.